I am always looking for a "better" way to haul my stands/hardware. Right now I have these two nylon bags that are pretty heavy duty, they look nice, but they are both too heavy. I guess another way to fix this, is to get another bag to lighten the load and spread it out.
So the two bags go in the back of my car, which has a hatch, they fit nicely.
But I am still curious if anyone out there uses other means (can't do the big hard cases), I know there are a lot of clever people out there that might blow me away with how you are doing this.
Please help me discover a better way?

I use the Protection Racket gear bag. It's a soft bag, roughly 20" x 20" x 48" long, wheels on one end. Doubles quite nicely as a big 'ol weekend bag for the wife and I when we go on vacation. Best cases and bags in the business IMHO. Give 'em a look...

I'll second the RockNRoller. Last thing I load into the car....means it's the first thing out. Stack everything onto the cart.....equipment roadtrip. Even if you have to make a few trips and your parked a block away from the venue. Smooth.

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This seat does not recline as per Federal Aviation Regulation 121.310 (f)(3)

I am always looking for a "better" way to haul my stands/hardware. Right now I have these two nylon bags that are pretty heavy duty, they look nice, but they are both too heavy. I guess another way to fix this, is to get another bag to lighten the load and spread it out.
So the two bags go in the back of my car, which has a hatch, they fit nicely.
But I am still curious if anyone out there uses other means (can't do the big hard cases), I know there are a lot of clever people out there that might blow me away with how you are doing this.
Please help me discover a better way?

I'll second the RockNRoller. Last thing I load into the car....means it's the first thing out. Stack everything onto the cart.....equipment roadtrip. Even if you have to make a few trips and your parked a block away from the venue. Smooth.

So does anyone want to guess at how much weight your stands are? I have two fairly heavy duty vinyl bags that I use to pack it all in, and I think I should get another to lessen the weight of each bag. But if I pack the bags evenly, I would guess each bag is approximately 40-50 pounds. Although this may not neccessarily be a major amount of weight, if you factor in how "bulky" these are. I thought about building a "crate" made of wood, but to be an effective crate, it would need to be of at least 1/2 inch thick ply wood, and that would add additional weight. I am considering this with wheels, and maybe a "sled" like apparatus for going up and down steps.

I'll second the RockNRoller. Last thing I load into the car....means it's the first thing out. Stack everything onto the cart.....equipment roadtrip. Even if you have to make a few trips and your parked a block away from the venue. Smooth.

Which model do you guys use? And where do you buy them online? Approximate costs?

I usually don't have far to load in where we play, but if there were any distances to carry stuff into a place (like a block away like someone said) this thing would be a life saver.

I got all new stands this year that are lighter weight because I couldn't take the heavier stuff anymore.

I got DW 7000 series single braced stands and a few of the double braced straight/boom stands with the same tubing sizes as the 7000 stuff (1" base, 3/4 center, 5/8 boom holder (for the 1/2" arm) or 1/2" straight top).

The single braced stands are great, and very stable--no worries playing very hard at all.

I also got a 5500 2 leg hat stand. This stand WITH cymbals on it is less than half of what my other hat stand. Feels smooth and is very sturdy too.

It's all just as sturdy and road worthy, with memory locks at every adjustment point.
The cymbal stands are about 3 lb's lighter each, but they feel a lot lighter than that compared to the heavy stuff.

When you have 3 or 4 of them it makes a huge difference.
My hardware case seems half as heavy now.